B.A.
,
Russian Studies

The launch of the federal government's new National Virtual Translation Center (NVTC) was announced at the conference by Everette Jordan, director of the NVTC, in his keynote address Thursday morning, and this event was the principal focus of media coverage.

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3. TV coverage with short comments by Kevin Hendzel and Everette Jordan, including conference shots, ABC and CBS TV (Phoenix).

Everette Jordan is the director of the federal government's National Virtual Translation Center, which employs a cadre of language professionals who translate information in over 40 languages on a regular basis.
Major clients include the Departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Justice.
He has 28 years of government language translation, administrative, and managerial experience, and is proficient in Arabic, Russian, and Spanish.

"Our goal is the fastest translation possible, because sometimes there is real urgency, but quality is also important," said Everette Jordan, the executive director of the center, which was set up in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The translation gap has been a problem for years.

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"We've had to build this from scratch, and it was a new concept," said Jordan, a Russian linguist who worked for 22 years at the National Security Agency."It's a more flexible approach, using secure computers, and the translators can work at this as piecework."

The translators must be U.S. citizens and pass FBI background checks.Many even get clearance to handle classified material.Those requirements limit the pool of potential recruits, but competitive pay and the support of translator associations have helped, Jordan said.

About 600 linguists are "in the pipeline now," he added.

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As a student of language, Jordan said, "nuance is crucial to good translation," knowing whether a speaker is literal or sarcastic, uses flowery terms or slang, or mixes his dialects.

Jordan notes that the United States has entered a difficult, long-term struggle with Islamic extremism and is trying to promote democracy in the Middle East at a time when U.S. colleges, as recently as 2003, awarded a total of six degrees in Arabic.

"There is finally a recognition about the importance of languages, whether it's for defense, the economy, education," Jordan said."But we have a long way to go."

Jordan, 45, learned Spanish and French growing up in southern California, then learned Russian in the Army, lured by a posting in Europe.That led to his career with the super-secret NSA, which conducts surveillance and data collection on a massive scale.

He studied Hebrew and Arabic and earned a master's degree in theology while at the NSA and briefly as CIA Director George Tenet's foreign language adviser.He also served on the staff of the congressional investigation into the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Our goal is the fastest translation possible, because sometimes there is real urgency, but quality is also important," said Everette Jordan, the executive director of the center, which was set up in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The translation gap has been a problem for years.

...

"We've had to build this from scratch, and it was a new concept," said Jordan, a Russian linguist who worked for 22 years at the National Security Agency."It's a more flexible approach, using secure computers, and the translators can work at this as piecework."

The translators must be U.S. citizens and pass FBI background checks.Many even get clearance to handle classified material.Those requirements limit the pool of potential recruits, but competitive pay and the support of translator associations have helped, Jordan said.

About 600 linguists are "in the pipeline now," he added.

...

As a student of language, Jordan said, "nuance is crucial to good translation," knowing whether a speaker is literal or sarcastic, uses flowery terms or slang, or mixes his dialects.

The assignments come into the center labeled by priority.Agencies often use computerized programs to give a quick analysis to tapes and documents, looking for key words and phrases.

Even in work that appears innocuous, "our translators have found some surprises, information no one knew was there, that has been helpful to investigations," Jordan said.

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There's a "critical mass" behind more language proficiency throughout the government, Jordan said.

The Army is recruiting native speakers as linguists, and the Pentagon has launched a broad effort to promote language skills and may even require officers to have some proficiency in a second language.

Jordan, 45, learned Spanish and French growing up in southern California, then learned Russian in the Army, lured by a posting in Europe.That led to his career with the super-secret NSA, which conducts surveillance and data collection on a massive scale.

Jordan's interests are varied.He studied Hebrew and Arabic and earned a master's degree in theology while at the NSA and briefly as CIA Director George Tenet's foreign-language adviser.He also served on the staff of the congressional investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks.

His job is dominated by the short-term urgency to find more translators, but Jordan also takes the long view of a language proselytizer.

He notes that the United States has entered a difficult, long-term struggle with Islamic extremism and is trying to promote democracy in the Middle East at a time when U.S. colleges, as recently as 2003, awarded a total of six degrees in Arabic.

"There is finally a recognition about the importance of languages, whether it's for defense, the economy, education," Jordan said.

Foreign Language CommitteeOffice of the Director of Central Intelligence

As the Chairman of the Director of Central Intelligence Foreign Language Committee, Mr. Jordan serves as the Senior Advisor to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on foreign language matters involving the Intelligence Community ; and serves as the Chairman of a group of senior language representatives from the NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, Defense Language Institute, Army, Navy, and Air Force intelligence organizations.The primary issues covered by the FLC include foreign language training, testing, and technology.He holds a BA in Russian Studies from the University of Md. and is close to completing coursework for a MA in Theology from St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore.

Mr. Jordan enlisted in the Army from 1977 to 1982, serving as a linguist.In 1982 he converted to civilian status at the National Security Agency as a linguist.Over the course of his career, he has held numerous leadership and management positions, including the building of a foreign language technology center that specialized in on-line language tools for military and civilian linguists.Mr. Jordan is proficient in Spanish, Russian, and Arabic, and has studied and used French, German, and Biblical Hebrew over the course of his career.He is a member of the National Assessment Governing Board Steering Committee of the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL), and a member of the DLI Board of Visitors.

He feels that foreign language skill is not only a perishable commodity which must be built upon and practiced, but also a skill that must be viewed as a crucial element to US national security, commercial, military, and leadership success throughout the world.